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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29272602">Now My Heart Is In Your Hands</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neuqe/pseuds/Neuqe'>Neuqe</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>2x04 related, Angst with a Happy Ending, Communication, Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Misunderstandings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 03:34:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,928</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29272602</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neuqe/pseuds/Neuqe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"Are we breaking up?"<br/>"What?"</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Carlos Reyes/TK Strand</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>234</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Now My Heart Is In Your Hands</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I know I already wrote a fic about why Carlos doesn't want to introduce TK to his parents, but then the new promo happened and I had to write something</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>TK’s hand hovers inches away from Carlos’ door as he tries to summon the courage to knock on it.</p><p>It’s a bit ridiculous because he has been there countless times and he even has the key with him, as always nowadays, but it feels wrong to use it right now. It would feel like he is invading his space and he is not going to just barge in.</p><p>TK lets his hand fall next to him as he sighs deeply. He wants to see Carlos, and he wants to talk to him and preferably to get some sort of an explanation, but still, all he is able to do is to stare at the wooden front door.</p><p>The uncertainness comes in waves and he isn’t completely sure if Carlos even wants to see him. It is their first real argument as a couple, and it is completely uncharted territories for him. He knows he wants to fix it, more than anything, but he cannot for the life of him figure out what it is that Carlos wants from him right now.</p><p>Still, he manages to knock on the door softly.</p><p>TK knows he is at home, he can see the slight shimmer of his kitchen lights through the window, but for a brief moment he still wonders whether he will even open the door for him.</p><p>Things didn’t get incredibly ugly between them at the farmers’ market, but they both ended up hurt.</p><p>They didn’t even yell at each other, but as soon as Carlos’ parents had left the farmers’ market, TK had left him alone there too and completely bailed on him about their plans. He had tried to bite his tongue because he didn’t want to say anything he would regret later, but he still had pretty strongly indicated that he didn’t know where they stood in their relationship and that he was not having none of it.</p><p>He knows it was unfair of him and even though he tried to avoid it, the regret still lies heavy on his heart. He hasn’t heard him since, and to be fair, he hasn’t reached out, either. It feels like it is the type of conversation they need to have in person.</p><p>The door opens and TK feels a physical pang in his heart just at the sight of seeing him again. It shatters his heart to see how heartbroken Carlos’s expression is as his gaze lands on him. He feels incredibly frustrated with himself because he knows he is, currently, the main source of his unhappiness.</p><p>“Hey,” TK says, a little tentatively.</p><p>He considers it a win that he doesn’t slam the door immediately on his face.</p><p>He longs to touch him. To comfort him. To do anything to get rid of the way his eyes shine with sombre.</p><p>Carlos has always been open with him, about almost everything. It is usually him who avoids certain too personal topics and tries to hide behind the walls he has put up around his heart. But now, even though Carlos’ eyes are giving away his inner turmoil, rest of his expression seems standoffish and a bit cold.</p><p>He is putting walls up and shutting him out, and it feels worse than TK could have imagined.</p><p>“Hi,” he replies, but his fingers are curled around the doorknob and his voice sounds flat.</p><p>On the way over, TK went through in his head all the things he could possibly say and what he needs to say, but as he stares at Carlos and his defeated expression that he tries his best to hide, he is little speechless.</p><p>He forgets what he wanted to say.</p><p>Carlos shifts his weight on the other foot and lets out a small sigh, as if he were a little bored with the conversation. “Are we breaking up?”</p><p>His mind refuses to register the implication of his words. He cannot help but blink at him, perplexedly, as he tries to wrap his mind around what he just said.</p><p>The combination of the question and the tone he uses throws him completely off the rhythm. He makes it sound like it would be an eventual inconvenience that they should just get over with.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>He never even considered the possibility of breaking up over it. Sure, it has been only a handful of hours since they argued and they have spent that in complete radio silence, but still, he has spent all of that time trying to come up with ways to fix it and apologize.</p><p>“Is that what you came here to do?” Carlos asks, with a nonchalant shrug and the coldness and defensiveness are creeping into his voice, too.</p><p>TK has no idea how they ended up like this, so out of sync and out of each other’s orbits, but it feels even more urgent that they talk because he cannot stand the way he is looking at him and he cannot stand the idea of Carlos thinking he wants to get rid of him.</p><p>“Can I come in?” He asks, because he still hasn’t fully opened the door and he still rests his hand on the doorknob, and he is afraid he will close the door in front of his face before he gets to say what he came there for.</p><p>Carlos stays silent, but he opens the door wider and he walks in.</p><p>“I don’t want to break up,” TK says, immediately as he turns around to face him. “Why do you seem so sure that is what I came here for?”</p><p>The words are pouring out of his mouth and it is not what he imagined opening this conversation with, but it suddenly feels like a priority.</p><p>For some reason, Carlos seems reluctant to move away from the door and he refuses to look in the general direction of him as TK walks further into the living room. His shoulders slouch just a bit and he has shoved his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants.</p><p>He seems weary and exhausted, and it pains TK to see him like that. The pain it causes is slowly taking over the hurt that Carlos’ earlier words caused, and he doesn’t know what to do. All of it makes him feel so helpless.</p><p>“You seemed pretty hurt and you made it clear you were fed up,” he points out, finally looking at him.</p><p>Some of the defensiveness is gone from his voice, but he still sounds like he is reciting well-known facts behind his reasoning.</p><p>“Yeah, with the situation,” TK says, little exasperatedly, “not with you.”</p><p>He doesn’t even try to deny the fact that he was hurt by his words and actions. It would be completely pointless because Carlos knows the truth anyway.</p><p>“Oh,” he says, and it sounds like the syllable escapes his mouth involuntarily.</p><p>“Yeah,” he breathes out and sits down on the leather ottoman Carlos has placed next to the coffee table. “You didn’t tell your parents I was your boyfriend,” he continues, looking straight at him, “and that hurt.”</p><p>He can hear the small crack on his voice himself too, and he can admit to himself, that it is still hurts. Especially when he cannot understand why he chose to pretend that they are only friends. He had felt blind-sided and dumb when Carlos introduced him, and he played along, but he had been genuinely excited to meet his parents, and they seemed like lovely people.</p><p>It’s frustrating, too, not knowing and he hates the guessing game he has been playing in his mind for the last few hours.</p><p>“I wasn’t ready,” Carlos eventually says, with a slight frown on his face, but he stays by the door, and TK briefly wonders if he is intentionally trying to put as much distance as possible between them.</p><p>Not being ready would be a valid reason under any circumstances for anything, and he sort of understands his reluctancy. It’s a big step and he doesn’t want to pressure him into anything. TK is about to reassure him, but Carlos continues to talk before he even gets a half a word out of his mouth.</p><p>“I don’t want to introduce you as my boyfriend to them in case this doesn’t work out.”</p><p>He says it quickly, but there is certainness in his voice and definitely sounds like he has given some thought to it.</p><p>“What?” TK repeats again, suddenly feeling even more flabbergasted than before.</p><p>“We’re in a good place now, but what about in six months?” He asks, taking a few steps closer and he does a vague gesture with his hand. “Are you even going to be here?”</p><p>Carlos still sounds defensive, but the look he shoots at him is full of hurt and confusion, and it breaks TK’s heart all over again. </p><p>Suddenly, his words make it all click in his head.</p><p>Ever since the night of solar flares, he has been all in. Sure, they have taken things slow and slowly learned to know each other a little better, all sort of small details about each other. The names of their first pets, the way they drink their coffee, what kind of sounds they make while sleeping and what sort of shampoo they use.</p><p>TK loves learning those tiny details and he wants to learn everything there is about him, but at the same time he hopes he never stops discovering new sides and details about him. It has been slow, but he has been in it for the long haul ever since they officially started dating.</p><p>Ever since he made his mind about wanting Carlos, he hasn’t looked back. His mind was set, and he hasn’t felt the need to reassess any of the decisions he has made regarding him, but with a sudden jolt of realisation, he realises that there are so many things he has never told him.</p><p>Now, that he opened the floodgates of all the things he has never told him, he cannot stop thinking about them. They have talked about serious things, too, and he has opened up about his addiction more to Carlos than he has to anyone else besides his therapist, and they have discussed in general about their fears and pasts, but some things still have gone unmentioned.</p><p>Important and crucial things. The sort of things he has taken for granted.</p><p>He hasn’t mentioned that he has no plans to move back to New York. He hasn’t mentioned straightforwardly how serious he is about him. He hasn’t mentioned that when he imagines his future, he is there with him. He hasn’t mentioned that he loves him.</p><p>He knows he has maybe done a mistake with assuming that just because he hasn’t indicated any differently, Carlos would understand the opposite as the truth.</p><p>He buries his head into his hands and groans softly. He cannot comprehend how badly he has fallen into the pitfall of assuming that Carlos would know exactly what is going on in his mind, and he knows it isn’t fair on either one of them.</p><p>“I’m an idiot,” TK mumbles into his hands.</p><p>He has never actively tried to avoid talking about these things with him and he knows he has no issues talking about the seriousness of their relationship. Hell, he even told Buck and he spent in total less than a twenty-four hours with him.</p><p>It’s just that all of those things felt so self-evident and he feels them with such a strong clarity that he never even considered the possibility that maybe he wasn’t getting the message across to Carlos.</p><p>It’s almost ridiculous how blind and oblivious he has been. He knows for a fact that Carlos knows that he likes him and that he is completely into him, and he has always told him how much he appreciates him being around, but he isn’t sure if he has ever told him about the depth or seriousness of his feelings.</p><p>He wants to kick himself when he realises how Carlos must have interpreted all of his musings about his parents’ relationship. All the predictions about how it will all end in flames and misery when the honeymoon period is over and how his dad is being ridiculous and rushing to take the next step because the future doesn’t bode well for their relationship, and that even trying to salvage what they once had might be futile.</p><p>He still believes it might not work between his parents, but they were never his general beliefs about love and relationships, and he never considered the possibility that he and Carlos would end up in similar situation.</p><p>“You’re not,” Carlos argues, flatly and quietly, as he sits down to the adjacent black leather armchair.</p><p>TK lets his hands drop and leans into his knees with his elbows. Carlos’ face isn’t far away from his own, but he still looks up to his face.</p><p>The more he thinks about it, the more it starts to bother him. The thought that Carlos actually seemed to believe that he would dump him after one fight is unbearable and nagging the corner of his mind. The defensiveness of his tone and the look in his eyes is going to haunt him for a while.</p><p>The worst part is that he is starting to see the logic and conclusions behind his thoughts, and it is almost no wonder Carlos assumed the worst, or that he is hesitant about introducing him.</p><p>Since the beginning it has been TK who has set the pace of their developing relationship and he is the one who made them do the whole back-and-forth thing in the first place. He knows Carlos cares for him, but understandably it might be challenging for him to trust that he isn’t going to pull another one hundred eighty on him any time soon. Especially when he has failed spectacularly at letting him know how he feels.</p><p>“So?” Carlos asks, when he remains silent and his voice does startle TK from the whirlpool of his own thoughts.</p><p>“I may have overestimated how good I am at this whole communicating thing,” he starts and bumps his knee with his own.</p><p>He nods, but his gaze is focused on their knees that are still touching each other. It is a small and light touch, their legs are barely pressed together, but still, TK feels better and more grounded than in hours. A ghost of a smile appears on Carlos’ lips, too.</p><p>“I’m more certain about us than I’m about anything else in my life,” TK says, gently.</p><p>His life has always been shadowed by the uncertainness of his job, and the pandemic definitely knocked any remaining certainness out of his everyday life, but Carlos feels like a constant, and at least he can feel certain about his feelings for him even if everything else crumbles around him.  </p><p>Carlos’ face softens a little as he looks right back at him.</p><p>He looks as if he is about to say something, but TK shakes his head and laughs, a little joylessly. “Yeah, I realised that I’ve never actually said that to you. I just assumed you knew.”</p><p>Carlos lets out a huff, but some of the tension leaves his shoulders.</p><p>TK gestures to the space in between them “I’d have never agreed to give this a go if I didn’t want to be in it for the long haul.”</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>“And,” he continues, placing his hand on top of his knee, “I’d also like to be here as long as you will have me.”</p><p>“That—that might be a long time,” Carlos says, under his breath, but he places his own hand on top of his and TK can immediately feel the warmth that he radiates.</p><p>“I can live with that,” TK tells him, with a lopsided smile. He exhales deeply before he continues. “And If this was just some meaningless fling, I wouldn’t have cared if you’d have claimed to your parents that you have never even met me, but this is so much more than that and it made me feel—insignificant.”</p><p>Carlos’ face falls and the heart-broken expression returns and lingers, and TK hates it, but he knows they will end up worse off if they don’t talk it through now.</p><p>He knows it wasn’t his intention, but he felt a little side-lined and small. A little like he wouldn’t be good enough for certain parts of his life.</p><p>“I’m sorry,” Carlos says, quietly, but his voice is still full of sincerity. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”</p><p>He squeezes his other eye shut and tilts his head to the side as he looks up to him. “Yeah, I figured that much.”</p><p>In the moment, he had felt slightly betrayed and mortified, but Carlos is one of the kindest people he has ever met and at no point did he think that Carlos chose to keep them a secret from his parents because that would inflict the most pain on to him.</p><p>He remains quiet, looking at their overlapped hands, and TK wants to give him the space and time he needs. Instead, he studies him with his gaze.</p><p>He is beautiful. The white t-shirt he is wearing fits his him well, hugging the curve of his shoulders and revealing a tiny part of his collarbone. The kitchen lights are illuminating the living room softly and it makes his skin look almost a deep shade of gold and TK is a little mesmerised, even though he cannot help but notice that he has let his guard down again.</p><p>It is probably the most vulnerable he has seen Carlos to be. There is always certain calmness and certainty about him, and he manages to keep himself level-headed through most of the situations, and it is almost odd to see the uncertainness and defeat in his eyes. Still, he is glad that he gets to see this side of him, too.</p><p>It feels almost like a privilege, that Carlos trusts him enough to let him see when the walls are crumbling.</p><p>“It wasn’t fair,” Carlos admits, refusing to meet his eyes.</p><p>“Yeah, but it would’ve been a completely different thing if you just would have told me what was going on before it happened,” he points out, softly, and nudges his knee with his own.</p><p>He would have understood if he had just told him that he wasn’t ready to take that step. He still doesn’t want to pressure him into doing something he isn’t completely comfortable with, and he wants him to know it.</p><p>Carlos’ eyebrows furrow and he looks at him with a mixture of confusion and amusement. “Why are you comforting me when it’s me who should be apologizing?”</p><p>“’cause you’re hurting, too,” he replies, without missing a beat.</p><p>TK doesn’t want to gain some hypothetical moral high ground of their fight. They have both done mistakes and he merely wants to be there for him. He knows Carlos is a confident person, but he has his share of insecurities, too, and he wants to reassure Carlos in the same way he always manages to reassure him with all the little gestures and being there for him.</p><p>He can feel the weight of Carlos’ gaze on him, but he doesn’t look away.</p><p>“Are you still mad at me?”</p><p>TK gives him a pointed look, but he doesn’t know how to put his feelings into words.</p><p>“I’d not blame you if you were,” he continues, sounding more defeated than anything else.</p><p>He ponders it for a moment.</p><p>All the anger evaporated almost immediately. It had been replaced by certain hollowness and heavy feeling in his throat. Above all, he had felt almost lonely because the person he usually turns to when things go awry was the one who he was running away from.</p><p>It had felt like all the pieces of the universe had shifted into slightly wrong places and it didn’t make any sense to him.</p><p>“More upset than mad,” he clarifies.</p><p>It’s hard to feel anger when regret is so visibly shining from his eyes.</p><p>Carlos exhales softly and TK reaches to intertwine their fingers. He strokes the back of his hand with his thumb, hoping that it comes across as reassuring.</p><p>“It had nothing to do with what I think of you,” he explains.</p><p>TK bites down a smile. It’s a relief to hear those words and it reminds him about the way his team keeps teasing him about the way Carlos looks at him as if he is the eight wonder of the world. He guesses part of the hurt had been shock because Carlos had always made him feel like he matters, and it had been such a foreign feeling to be hidden like that.</p><p>He cannot deny that he wouldn’t have wondered if Carlos was just plain ashamed of him.</p><p>Carlos squeezes his hand. “You mean a lot to me and I got scared that we might lose what we have, but I never meant to make you second-guess anything.”</p><p>He nods sympathetically. He understands it better than well. Backtracking is usually something he does when things get too much. It might have been Carlos’ own choice to react the way he did, but he still feel some sort of responsibility for making him feel that it was necessary.</p><p>“I’m sorry for making you think that this wouldn’t end up working,” TK says, but his voice ends up sounding a lot quieter than he intended to.</p><p>Carlos looks up to him, looking almost surprised. “Ty, you don’t have to apologize.”</p><p>He sputters a laughter full of disbelief. “You thought I was going to break up with you, so hell yeah I do.”</p><p>“Yeah, well,” he mumbles, looking down to their hands. “You never made me feel unimportant, you know. Or that you’d just disappear one day, it’s just--,” he lets his voice trail off, but he seems frustrated.</p><p>“I know,” he replies, trying to take the pressure of finishing the sentence away.</p><p>TK knows that trust is a fragile thing and that it must be cherished and valued. He doesn’t feel like the trust between them would be broken or damaged, but it might need little maintenance still.  Some reassuring every now and then.</p><p>Carlos is now holding his hand in between both of his hands, sort of cradling it in the middle and his palms feel warm and smooth against his own.</p><p>Carlos laughs, but it ends up sounding a little breathless and wet. “And once I heard how pessimistic you were about your parents’ chance at happiness, it sort of got stuck on my mind.”</p><p>“I’m still pessimistic about them,” he points out, matter-of-factly, “but that never extended to us.”</p><p>TK genuinely believes that his parents were madly in love at some point. Hell, they might still love each other on some level and currently they are still getting along, but he also knows that love isn’t always enough. Some people aren’t just right for each other, despite love. It might be a disastrous timing or that the people bring the worst out of each other.</p><p>He feels like he and Carlos are opposite of that. He hates the idea of soulmates, because he likes the idea of free will and making a choice, but he still likes to think that some people are more compatible than others. Maybe it was fate that led them to meet each other, but TK prefers to think that they chose each other and that they still keep choosing each other every single day.</p><p>“I love you,” TK half blurts out.</p><p>He is still a little caught up on the idea of having found his person and he didn’t plan on saying those words, but it doesn’t mean he would mean them any less. They are the absolute truth, and he has known it for a while now, but he wanted to wait for a perfect moment.</p><p>He should’ve known that perfect moment doesn’t exist, and the argument made him even more assured about his love.</p><p>It feels good to say those three words. Sure, his heart is beating a little faster and his ribcage feels too small for it, but it still feels right. It is almost effortless how they roll of his tongue, as if it is what he was always meant to say.</p><p>Carlos’ bites his lower lip, but delight is shining in his eyes. “I love you, too,” he replies, and it seems like he doesn’t even hesitate to say it back. “Even if it hasn’t felt like that today.”</p><p>“Hey,” he argues softly and reaches to kiss his forehead. It’s a brief kiss, but he lets his lips stay there for a little longer than usually. “I feel very loved right now. You’re trying to make things right and apologizing. You’d not do that if you didn’t care.”</p><p>It feels like he is choosing him again, and it doesn’t get that much more romantic in TK’s book because he is making an effort and trying his best, and just hearing the way he said it back leaves no space for doubt in his mind.</p><p>“Yeah,” Carlos replies with a short exhale and he raises his other hand to cup his face. His hand is gentle against his cheek and he strokes it softly. He is searching permission in his eyes, and TK nods slightly, and soon his lips are against his.</p><p>It’s slow and tentative, but incredibly gentle and it feels like seeking for forgiveness. It cannot undo the hurt they caused, but it’s still comforting, and it makes his heart flutter.</p><p>TK is the first one to pull away. “For future reference, I’d never give up on you that easily,” he breathes out and he doesn’t pretend to fight off the smile away from his lips.</p><p>Carlos lets out a meek chuckle and he lets his hand drop away from his face, but some of the sadness no longer lingers on his face. “Right back at you.”</p><p>“But you know, I still stand behind my words,” TK starts, “I think we make a pretty good team, so I’m here for you. Whatever happens.”</p><p>“Yeah,” he agrees, gazing up to the ceiling, but TK catches the way his eyes glister. “Thanks for playing along.”</p><p>“I was mad at you in the moment, it doesn’t mean I’d throw you under the bus,” he remarks. “I have your back.”</p><p>Maybe there was a fraction of a second that he wanted to tell his parents that Carlos was lying, but it passed quickly. The only reason he played along was that he knew on some level that he must have some reason, even though in the moment, hurt drowned that voice of reason.</p><p>“I should’ve had yours. I didn’t think it through,” Carlos tells him, sounding rueful as he runs his thumb along his wrist and the sleeve of his hoodie.</p><p>TK gets that it was a tough spot. He isn’t going to hold a bad decision made in a spur of a moment against him any longer than necessary.</p><p>“You know, you still don’t have to introduce me to them as your boyfriend if you don’t feel comfortable. We’ll do that once you’re ready.”</p><p>“Thank you,” he whispers, closing his eyes just for a moment.</p><p>The sincerity of his voice almost catches him by surprise, and he knows he is making the right decision.</p><p>“Could you promise me something?” TK asks, his mouth twitching into a small smile.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Next time something is bothering you, talk to me. You can tell me anything, I’m not gonna make a run for the mountains.”</p><p>“There aren’t that many mountains in Austin,” he shoots back, wryly.</p><p>“Hah, real funny,” he says, rolling his eyes, but his heart feels instantly lighter. “Let me rephrase. I’m not gonna bolt if it gets tough. I want it all, the good and the bad and everything in between.”</p><p>TK extends his little finger and offers it to him.</p><p>“A pinky promise?” Carlos asks, his voice a mixture of amusement and some degree of disbelief as his gaze darts between the finger and his face.</p><p>“It’s a sacred vow. We cannot break it,” he deadpans, but he knows he is failing spectacularly.</p><p>Carlos holds up his right little finger, but he makes no movement to lock it with his. “Only if you promise to talk to me, too.”</p><p>“Obviously,” he promises, and Carlos links their little fingers firmly.</p><p>TK chuckles lightly, but he feels more content than in days as he looks at their fingers. Sure, it’s a small and sort of dumb gesture, but he likes what it symbolises.</p><p>“I still have all the ingredients from the market. If you want to stay, I could cook for you,” Carlos suggests, “try to make it up for you a little.”</p><p>He wants to argue that it is absolutely not necessary, he already apologized, and he has forgiven him, but he knows it is just one of his ways to show that he cares, and he doesn’t want to deny him that.</p><p>“Sure, but I want to help.”</p><p>He has a track record of being a disaster in the kitchen, but cooking is something Carlos adores, and he wants to be a part of that and, unsurprisingly, he has been a patient teacher while he has tried to teach him some of the basics.</p><p>“Deal,” he agrees, and his smile is so warm and bright that TK almost has to look away, but he doesn’t want to.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I hope you liked it and all the mistakes are mine. This was fun to write and I usually avoid writing about episodes that haven't aired yet but I really hope we get some scenes where they actually talk about their feelings and relationship. The title is borrowed from a song called missing piece by paul rey and also from the song temporary love by ben platt </p><p>also, just a little reminder amid all the fandom discourse about 2x04, not being out to everyone or anyone doesn't make you any less valid or loved &lt;3</p></blockquote></div></div>
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